A week into this ministry site, I can already tell you that this month in Costa Rica is going to be very different from the month in Guatemala. We are staying at a place called New Horizons which is at the very heart of the community Copa Carpio. This community consists of Nicaraguan Refugees that have made their home on one of Costa Rica’s dumps.
The moment we told our taxi drivers that we were headed to Carpio they just laughed at us. This place is known as one of the most dangerous communities in Costa Rica. New Horizons has become a safe haven for kids ranging from 8 years old to teenagers up to age 18. This facility is open everyday from 8am to 4pm for the kids to come and play soccer and just hangout in a safe environment. There are numerous ministries that New Horizions provides which include: a boys and a girls soccer team, bible studies, tutoring, kindergarten, a medical clinic, English classes, sewing classes, woodshop classes, computer classes, and three soccer fields to play on.
Our weeks consist of helping out wherever we feel led or where we are needed. I spend most of my time playing soccer. It has been a great way to build relationships with the teenagers here. It has been so awesome getting to do that at least 3 or 4 hours a day. New Horizons is on a good chunk of land, so we are serving by doing A LOT of yard work that has been needed for quite sometime. If you picture us mowing lawns with a lawnmower that would be incorrect. My job has been a pole in my left hand and a machete in my right, and I am to cut down waist high weeds and grass! It is an awesome workout, and who wouldn’t want to spend time swinging a small sword as hard as you can?!
